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Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Hawaiian Legislature Gives Ammo To Birthers
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As the state continues to receive e-mails seeking Obama's birth certificate, the state House Judiciary Committee heard a bill Tuesday permitting government officials to ignore people who won't give up.
Wait a minute, in Hawaii you have to pass a law for the government to ignore people? What a concept.
A few of these requesters continue to pepper the Health Department with the same letters seeking the same information, even after they're told state law bars release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who does not have a tangible interest. Responding wastes time and money, Kim said.
All American citizens have a tangible interest in the question.
One legislator sees how this move would backfire:
"Do we really want to be known internationally as the Legislature that blocked any inquiries into where President Obama was born?" asked Rep. Cynthia Thielen, R-Kaneohe-Kailua. "When people want to get more information, the way to fuel that fire is to say, 'We're now going to draw down a veil of secrecy."'
There really is an original birth certificate, but you can't see it.
Both Fukino and the state registrar of vital statistics have verified that the Health Department holds Obama's original birth certificate.
Obama's dad is a foreign national. Newspapers have misreported Barry H Obama II as Kenyan-born; birth announcements in Hawaiian newspapers say he's an American. (I never understood why he wouldn't automatically inherit his mom's citizenship.) Most Americans aren't all that familiar with the Certificate of Live Birth - best analogy is a college transcript; not an original document, but legal proof that the person is in the official records.
If the Hawaiian state government wants the birthers to stop pestering them so much, they should put the to put the original birth document on public display. (The newspapers could add microfiche prints of the Obama birth announcements for effect.) We demand certain types of transparency from politicians that we don't demand of anyone else - tax records, for one. On principle, anyone who runs for Prez or gets selected for veep candidate selection, and has a foreign-born parent, should have to fork over extra documentation - for the sake of avoiding appearances of illegality.
I can't stand the birther meme. It gives too much ammo to Obama. They distract attention from the president's war on the economy and other political assaults. I WANT THE BIRTHER MEME TO GO AWAY. I WANT THEIR BEST AMMO - THE EVASIVENESS OF THE HAWAIIAN STATE GOVERNMENT - TO BE NIPPED IN THE BUD.
Labels: Politics
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